Water closet flushing apparatus



July 3, 1962 R- w. WILLIAMS WATER CLOSET FLUSHING APPARATUS 5Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 27, 1959 Fill/I'll 9/1/42 INVENTOR /CHAPDmwoeu W/LL/AMJ Y% ORNEY July 3, 1962 R. w. WILLIAMS 3,041,630

WATER CLOSET FLUSHING APPARATUS Filed July 27, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 3INVENTOR United States Patent Oflice fidlfi h Patented July 3, 19623,041,630 WATER CLOSET FLUSHING APPARATUS Richard Wendell Williams, DixDrive, Blissman Acres,

East McKeesport, Pa. 1 Filed July 27, 19 59, Ser. No. 829,876 8 Claims.(Cl. 4-37) piper, or all of these, of the standard water closet.

With the general increase of population in certain metropolitan areasand the resultant lowering of the water table in those areas, it hasbecome increasingly more important to conserve water. It is, of course,desirable to accomplish this, if possible, without inconvenience to theinhabitants of these areas. Toward this end, I have conceived theinvention disclosed herein, which is embodied 2 in an apparatus whichmay be installed quickly and easily in the tank of a standard watercloset or may be included as part of the equipment upon the initialinstallation.

I have found that a very small amount of water need be released from thetank of a water closet to accomplish a change of the water in the bowlwhen there is no solid matter in the bowl. It will be obvious that animportant economy can be wrought through the use of myapparatus, in viewof the many instances when it is required to flush the water closet eventhough there is no solid matter in the bowl.

Briefly, to describe my invention, I provide a basically cylindricalhousing which, in installation, is superimposed over and around thestandard valve seat in the tank of a water closet and standsapproximately parallel to and adjacent to the standard overflow pipe ofthe water closet. The said housing is open at both of its ends and isheld in place by the standard guide member which clamps onto theoverflow pipe. On the side of the said housing, ap-

proximately opposed to the side adjacent to the overflow pipe, I providea gate valve which is hinged at its upper extremity, so as to openinwardly into the said housing. A vertically operated lock rod isslidably engaged in the housing, in a position to restrictively engagethe said gate valve on its inward side and is indirectly connected tothe flush operating lever for lifting into a position of disengagementwhen it is desired to fully flush the water closet. When my apparatus isinstalled in a standard water closet, I provide an extension for theflush operating lever to which the lock rod is indirectly connected. Thestandard buoyant ball valve is enclosed within the cylindrical housingand, insofar as it seats and unseats in the standard valve seat,operates in the usual manner. The stem of the said buoyant ball valvepasses through the aforementioned standard guide member and is connectedindirectly and resiliently to the flush operating lever. I provide abasically cylindrical sleeve. which slidably engagesthe" cylindricalhousing on the inside. thereof and is adjustably positioned to extendabove the upper extremities of the said housing. The said sleeve restsupon the said standard guide member and its vertical adjustment toaccommodate for different tank water levels is accomplished by slots ofdiflerent depth which I provide in its lower extremity. By merelyrotating the sleeve until a particular slot is positioned over thestandard guide member and lowering it thereupon, the vertical adjustmentand the positioning of the sleeve is simply performed. A flat, thin,circular baffle plate surrounds the stem of the buoyant ball valve,rests upon the standard guide member and has a diameter somewhat smallerthan the inside diameter of the sleeve so that it fits very looselytherein. A resilient coupling, in the order of a helical spring, isprovided between the standard valve stem and the standard lift rodtherefor, for the purpose of providing a resistance stop for the smallflush or rinse by restricting the upward movement of the flush operatinglever thereby providing a resilient stop. By applying additionalpressure the helical spring is compressed and additional upward movementto the flush operating lever is provided to lift the lock rod out ofengagement with the gate valve, Thereupon, the gate valve is opened bythe water pressure in the tank and sufficient water flows into the bowlto accomplish a full flush.

It is important, to the novelty of my invention, to notice that it isactually advantageous to the operation of my apparatus for thetolerances of fit; as for example, around the bottom of the housing,around the gate valve, around the lock rod and between the sleeveand thehousing, to be quite large. This is so for the reason that it is .necessary, on the partial flush operation, for there to be a certain flow ofwater beneath the ball valve to preserve its buoyancy. It should benoted, in this respect, that I have provided a slot in the, lowerextremity of the housing to allow clearance for the standard saddleconnecting the valve seat and the overflow pipe. Neither this slot northe slots which provide clearance for the standard guide member need beof exacting tolerance or a close fit.

To explain the operation of my apparatus, upon installation the sleeveis adjusted as aforementioned by positioning one of the slots over theguide member. The

particular slot which is chosen will depend, in each in-' stallation,upon the water level which the standard float shut-off valve normallymaintains in the tank. When the tank is filled to the upper limitpermitted by the float shut-0E valve, the upper extremity of the sleevemust be below the water level, and the distance below the water level isdetermined by experimentation to discover the least amount of waterrequired to change the water in the bowl. When the flushing lever isoperated for the partial flush, the ball valve is drawn free of thevalve seat, the helical spring resiliently restricts full upwardmovement of the hush operating lever and water flows over the top of thesleeve and strikes the battle plate level has dropped to approximatelythe top of the sleeve,

' shut-off valve permits the water level to return to the full there isno longer suificient water beneath the ball valve to maintain itsbuoyancy and it re-seats in the normal manner to complete the operation.Thereupon, the float position, as in the standard installations nowextant in the art.

When the flushing lever is operated'ior the full flush,

the ball .valve is drawn free of the valve seat, the flush operatinglever is moved to its uppermost limit, the lock rod is lifted anddisengaged from the gate valve, the force of the flowing water opens thegate'valve inwardly and the tank empties. 'I hereupon, the ball valvere-seats, the

gate valve drops into closed position, the lock'rod reengages the gatevalve to lock it closed, and the standard 1 the run position.

, r The numeral 1 indicates e l 3 7 fio'at s'hut-ofi valve permitsthewater level to return to It will 'be obvious can be accomplished withthestlandard fiush lever, merely by the operator becoming accustomed tothe feel of the that the operation of my apparatus two (2) differentoperations, However, where it is thought advisable to provide morepositive operation, I e

have provided a dual handle for the flushing lever which accomplishes apositiveoperation of my apparatus, even by one unfamiliar with itsfunction. This novelh-andle is shown in the drawings and explainedhereinafter.

One object of my invention is to provide a flushing apparatus which willaccomplisha saving of water in the use of water'closetse Another-objectof my invention is toprovide such a flushing apparatus which may beinstalled readily and easily in standard water closet installationswithout major revision thereto. Further and additional advantagesof myinvention will appear from this specification and the appended claims.

' Referring now to' the drawings:

FIG. I shows a cut away elevational cross-section through thetank of astandard water closet with-the apparatus' embodying my inventioninstalled therein and shown in the closed position with the water levelin the tank in the filled position. FIG. 11 shows an elevationalcross-section through the apparatus embodying my invention and showingthe ap-.

paratus in the position for the partial flushing operation. FIG.III'shows an elevational cross-section through the apparatus embodyingmy invention and showing the apparatus in the position for the fullflushing operation.

FlG -lV shows a plan view of the tank of a standard water closet withthe apparatus embodying my invention installed therein, and taken in theplane of section line IV- IV of FIG. I. a 1 FIG. V shows an elevation ofthe apparatus embodying my invention and:taken in the plane ofsectionline V.-V orFIdn. 1 7 1 FIG. VT shows a cut away cross-sectional planview through a novel handle'which provides a more positive H operationof the apparatus embodying my invention.

*FIG. VII shows a cut away elevational cross-section through the novelhandle, showing it in the unflushed position.

"FIG. VIII shows a cut away elevational cross-section through the novelhandle, showing it in the'position forv 7 partial flushing.)

FIG. IX shows a cut away elevational' cross-section through the novelhandle, showing it in the position for full flushing. L j a L FIG. Xshows a cross-section through the lever portion which fits intoa'slot'lfl in thefupper extremityof the housing 8. The said housing 8has a projection 8' disardball valve 9-and is held in place by the guidefixture posed outwardly and having a gate valve'l 6:mounted in thesidethereof. The sleeve 11 fitsloosely into. the housj ing-8 and has aplurality of variant depth slots 12 in its lower extremity which fitover' the guide fixture 5. The stem of the ball valve 9 is resilientlyengaged-by means I of the spring 1'4to the standard lift rod 15 whichcooperatesjwith fiushing lever 7 to raise the ball valve. The gate valve.16 in the housingprojection 8. has a horislidably connected with liftrod 19 which cooperates with flushing lever 7' to lift'th'e lock fod18'161 the full flushing operation. The lock rod 18 has a stop 20thereon and is slidably mounted in a bore 21 in the housing projection'8'. A thin circular bafile plate 22 surrounds the valve stem 13 andrests on the guide'fixture 5 in a circumferentially spaced relation withthe inside of sleeve 11.

The water level in the tank is shown as point A for the 'full position,point B for the partial flush position, point C for the loweringposition during the full flushing operation, and point D for the'fullyflushed posit-ion.

.It willbe understood that my invention may be installed in standardwater closets wherein the standard type of flushinghandle is employed.However, 'I'also ing fixture 25. The said fixture 25' is mounted, in theusual manner, in the tank 1. The small flush handle 26. is rotatablymounted upon the body of the full flush handle 24. However, the rotationthereof is limited by the key slot 27 in the small flush handle 26 whichloosely engages' the key 28 on the full flush handle 24. Two 'stop lugs29onthe mounting fixture 25 limit the rotation of the entire handleassembly 'by engagement with the key 31) on the body of the'small flushhandle 26;

In the operation of this handle assembly, downward pressure on the fullflush handle 24 causes the key 28 to contact the upper limit of the keyslot 27 and moves the wkey 30 into engagement with the upper stop lug29.

This rotation provides the maximum movement to the flushing lever 7 andaccomplishes a full flush. Downthereby rotatingthe said key 28 and theflushing lever 7 in a limitedamount until the key 30 contacts the upperstop lug 29. This. amount of rotation accomplishes a smallflushn H A IWhen the apparatus embodying my invention is in- .stalled in a standardwater closet, I provide an extension of the novel handle and taken inthe plane of section line I 51 for the flush operating lever 7. Theextension 31 is rigidly enga'gedtothe said flush operating lever Thybolts 3232, thereby extending the said lever 7 to facilitate theconnection thereof to the lift rod 19. Certain modifications of theembodiment of my inventionshown in the accompanying drawings anddescribed herein may be made within the scope of this specification andthe appended claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim as my invention:

1'. A water closetvalve comprising a basically cylindrical open-endedhousing having one end thereof disposed ontlie bottom of a water closettank and sur- 7 rounding theflush valve seat therein in substantiallyjection'at the upper extremity of gate valve 16; The lock "ly thereinto.

concentric spaced relation thereto, the said housing being disposedvertically upward therefrom to a height less than the normal full levelof the tank in condition for flushing, a flushing lever positioned abovethe upper extremity of the said housing within the said water closettank and communicating with a' flushing handle mounted exteriorly of thesaid tank, a buoyant ball valve aligned with the'said flush valve seatand being concentrically disposed within the said housing, a resilientmounting communicating with the said' buoyant ball valveya'nd having itsuppermost extremity mounted on the flushing lever, and a gate valvepivotally mounted proximate the lower extremity of the said housing andopening inward- 2.'A water closet valve ac cording to claim lwherein abasically cylindrical sleeve is'concentrically mounted rbd 18 engagesthe gate 16 in the closedposition and is .within the upper extremity ofthe said housing in slidable' engagement therewith and extendingthereabove, which said sleeve is vertically adjustable to extend more orless distance above the top of the said housing.

3. A water closet valve according to claim 1 wherein a locking means ismounted on the housing in engagement with the gate valve'in closedposition and communicates with the flushing lever whereby the saidlocking means is disengaged from the said gate valve upon full motion ofthe said flushing lever.

4. A water closet valve according to claim 1 wherein a baffle plate ismounted within the said housing in concentrically spaced relationthereto above the said buoyant ball valve.

5. A water closet valve comprising a basically cylindrical open-endedhousing having one end thereof disposed on the bottom of a water closettank and surrounding the fiush valve seat therein in substantiallyconcentric spaced relation thereto, the said housing being disposedvertically upward therefrom to a height less than the normal full levelof the tank in condition for flushing, a flushing lever positioned abovethe upper extremity of the said housing within the said water closettank and communicating with a rotating means mounted exteriorly of thesaid tank, buoyant closing means for the said flush valve seat disposedwithin the said housing, resilient lifting means communicating with thesaid buoyant closing means and having its uppermost extremity mounted onthe said flushing lever, an orifice proximate the lower extremity of thesaid housing, and

variable restricting means for the said orifice whereby the said orificemay be opened or closed. 7

6. A water closet valve according to claim 5 wherein a locking means ismounted on the said housing in engagement with the said variablerestricting means in closed position and communicates with the flushinglever whereby the said locking means is disengaged from the saidvariable restricting means upon =full motion of the said flushing lever.

7. A water closet valve according to claim 5 wherein a bafiling means ismounted within the said housing above the said buoyant closing means,which baifiing means is adapted to deflect fluid toward the internalperiphery of the said housing.

8. A water closet valve according toclaim 5 wherein V the flushing leverrotating means is comprised in a plurality of rotatably mounted handlesadapted to effect individually distinct movements of the flushing lever.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSAustralia Mar. 7, 1945

